Former Blackhawks star Jeremy Roenick will be one of seven 2024 inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame, the hall’s selection committee announced Tuesday.
When he’s inducted Nov. 11, Roenick will become the fourth Hawk to be inducted since Chris Chelios in 2013. Doug Wilson and Marian Hossa were honored in 2020.
“I’m so happy, I can’t thank everyone who was behind this honor enough,” Roenick said in a statement. “I’m at a loss for words, and I’m never at a loss for words. Getting over this last hockey hurdle means so much to me.”
The other 2024 player inductees are former Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk, former Predators defenseman Shea Weber and former Olympic women’s hockey stars Krissy Wendell-Pohl and Natalie Darwitz, marking the first time a Hall of Fame class has included multiple women. Former NHL executive Colin Campbell and former Predators general manager David Poile will be inducted as builders.
This day has been a long time coming for Roenick, who became eligible for induction in 2012 but ended up having to wait more than a decade.
After going eighth overall to the Hawks in the 1988 NHL Draft, Roenick broke into the league full-time late in the ’88-89 season and became a star within two years. He tallied 94 points in 1990-91 and eclipsed the 100-point mark in each of the following three seasons, setting his career high of 53 goals in 1991-92 and his career high of 61 assists in 1993-94.
Alongside players such as Chelios, Wilson, Ed Belfour and Steve Larmer, Roenick headlined a beloved generation of Hawks from the late ’80s and early ’90s that has experienced a resurgence in recognition in recent years.
He was dealt to the Coyotes in 1996 for a ’97 first-round pick (Ty Jones), Craig Mills and Alexei Zhamnov. In retrospect, it was one of the worst trades in Hawks history.
Roenick went on to enjoy lengthy stops in Arizona and Philadelphia before finishing his career with brief stints on the Kings and Sharks and retiring in 2009, having been hampered by compounding concussions.
The Boston native ranks sixth all-time among American-born NHL players in games played (1,363), fifth in points (1,216) and fourth in goals (513).
Roenick’s long-awaited Hall of Fame selection seems very much based on cumulative lifetime success rather than specific achievements, considering he never won the Stanley Cup nor received any major NHL single-season awards. Outside of the NHL, he received a silver medal with Team USA at the 2002 Olympics.
His outspoken personality has led to quite a few minor controversies over the years, including a messy departure from NBC Sports in 2020 after 10 years working in TV as a studio analyst, but it also endeared him to thousands of fans.
“I played the game how I wanted to and the way I thought was right,” Roenick told the Sun-Times in 2018. “I wouldn’t change it now. And whatever happens, happens. You live life once, you make your decisions and you go with it. And I’m perfectly happy with it.”
